help! why are there are videos in my pop sci newsletter?!

Yes, there are a few a good reasons why WoWT is filling up with videos.

When I wrote my little ramble about the media and commercial environment which let a random, albeit enthusiastic, oral sex joke become an overnight commercial empire, I was just trying to organize some thoughts about the future of the creator economy, as well as the bleak landscape in which we’ve found ourselves. But then I got to thinking. No, not about opening an OnlyFans, that would just be cruel and unusual punishment to the web at large. About how to adapt and evolve in said bleak environment.

One of the most frequent criticisms I see on social media today is that everything is a video today and people just want an article. Which does make sense, especially when you consider that watching someone talk about an article means they’re very likely to put their own spin on it — consciously or not — and you’ll probably want to form your own opinions. It also makes sense for tutorials and instructions, where you don’t want to hit pause or rewind a thousand times.

Yet there’s also an important saying in business and entertainment of all sorts: meet the audience where they are. And the numbers don’t lie, where they are is video. This could be in part because Google is actively ruining the web, or because Facebook told creators and publications they’d benefit from a pivot to video, then outright lied about metrics, making early experiments look like stunning successes, instead of the mixed bag it was. I don’t know how it happened exactly, but video is where it’s at now.

Just compare a peak of roughly 15,000 reads per month to a quarter million views on a handful of short videos. Sure, I could keep plugging away with article after article a bunch of people don’t seem to want to read in full, or bookmark for later, then forget thanks to a million other distractions. Or, I could write a three to seven minute script, shoot a to the point video, edit to show sources, then present it to an audience which seems happy to watch it right away — or at least listen in the background.

Of course, the catch here is that I’m already very familiar with professional video tools and well versed in cameras, microphones, mixers, and editing software. I also have six years of weekly radio appearances under my belt, which really helped me work on my public speaking and presentation skills.

So, none of this was not a huge adjustment for me. Likewise, good phones today are more than sufficient to capture very decent 1080p or even 4K video. They wouldn’t fly for the quality you’d expect to see in professional streaming TV shows and movies. But for short video essays after a little color grading and smoothing? No problem.

After a long overdue update to a newer phone with nice cameras, I was ready to let it rip and put out a few videos. Just a few. Just to see how it feels. And very quickly I’ve learned quite a bit.

My first lesson was that with writing, there are virtually no limits to how long winded or elaborate you can get. Hell, my longest article here on Substack, a deep dive into the origins and misguided mission of the Cult of AGI, comes close to 3,700 words. It takes an average person 19 minutes to read. It also gives me a whole lot of latitude to raise a lot of questions and tangental topics.

Videos, at least good ones that people watch, are way less forgiving. You need to get to the point quickly, focus on your core argument by distilling it to its basics, and stay on the subject. Failing to do that will be more obvious, and editing will feel like a major slog. At least it is for me. I know that’s not true for everyone, but I’ve learned to listen to the gnawing little voice that gets impatient, or hates how clunky a draft sounds.

Having to leave things unsaid, or questions unanswered leaves room for follow ups, as well as comments and thoughts from viewers. Years and years of writing to persuade, argue, or debunk created a sort of tunnel vision for me: to create an airtight case. And that’s not what or why I started writing in the first place.

My goal was to make people think and ask questions. Being forced to make room for the questions and what ifs gave me back that original excitement and energy that I’ve felt been missing for a long time now. And that excitement is pushing me in new and different directions. Finally, this new, streamlined approach is also helping me on the radio. (Which I’m back to doing across Canada every Wednesday at 7:35 EDT.)

All of this means that I’m going to pivot to video as much as possible, given the stats, the engagement, and the intangible benefits. It doesn’t mean that I won’t be writing in the future, of course. It just means that what I write will be different and this space will become an experiment in looking forward and trying new things.